Digital Photo Help

Taking a photo with a digital camera

Your photo must be a color close-up of your head and shoulders, taken in front of plain background. If you can adjust the settings on your camera, a resolution of 600x800 will generally meet the technical requirements for the photo. You should take the photo holding the camera vertically, not horizontally:

Back to Top


Downloading your image from a digital camera

PC (Windows XP or Vista)

  1. Connect your camera to your computer. You may do this by using the USB cable provided with most cameras or by inserting the memory card into a memory card reader.
  2. Once you connect you camera to your computer, Windows should detect the new device and ask you what you would like to do with your pictures.
    1. Connected Camera through USB: click Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard, and then click OK
    2. Using Memory Card Reader: click Copy pictures to a folder on my computer using Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard, and then click OK.
  3. When Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard opens, click Next.
  4. Now all of the pictures on your device will appear in a wizard. You can uncheck all of the images that you do not want to download. Since you should use a photograph taken vertically (see above), your photo may appear sideways. You may rotate the image by clicking Rotate Clockwise or Rotate Counterclockwise on the left side of the page.
  5. Under the Picture Name and Destination page, type a name for your group of pictures. (For Instance: Your Last Name). Then click Browse and select the folder to which you would like to save the images.
  6. On the other options page, click Nothing and then Next.
  7. On the final page of the wizard, click Finish to complete download.
  8. From Form 14 of Approaching Stanford, click on Browse, locate your photo, click on it, and then click Open. The Browse window will close, and you will be back on Form 14.
  9. Click on Save Form. You will see a message on the page indicating whether your form meets the technical requirements or not.

Mac

  1. Connect your camera to your computer. You may do this by using the USB cable provided with most cameras or by inserting the memory card into a memory card reader.
  2. A few seconds after connecting your device an icon called "Unlabeled" on OSX or "untitled" on OS 9 will appear on the desktop. Do not rename the drive.
  3. Double-click on the Unlabeled or untitled icon.
  4. A window will appear with folders inside it. Downloaded pictures for all cameras are contained in a folder titled "DCIM -> 100 Olymp."
  5. Copy the files in the DCIM -> 100 Olymp folder onto the desktop by dragging them to download them. In OS9, you need to hold the option key down while dragging folders/files to the desktop in order for them to copy.
  6. From Form 14 of Approaching Stanford, click on Browse, locate your photo, click on it, and then click Open. The Browse window will close, and you will be back on Form 14.
  7. Click on Save Form. You will see a message on the page indicating whether your form meets the technical requirements or not.

Back to Top

 

Using a photo taken with a film camera

Develop your photos at a location that can transfer your photos from film to a CD. Insert the CD into your computer and upload your photo from the CD.

Back to Top


Scanning a paper photo

Every scanner has a different scanning process. We have provided a general outline of how to scan an image.  If these do not fit your scanner, please consult your scanner’s instruction manual.  Please make sure you save your image with a minimum of 300 dpi and as a .jpg.

  1. Open top of scanner and place picture in top corner of glass. Make sure the entire photo is on the glass screen and then close the top.
  2. Open the Scanner Wizard (there will likely be an icon for the scanner on the desktop).
  3. On the top finder bar go to scanner tab and click Preview Scan. If your computer does not have a preview scan button click on scan.
  4. Using your cursor and drag over the image you want to be scanned.
  5. On the top finder bar, go to File or Scan tab, and click on Preferences. On the top tab, click Resolution and ensure that it is at a minimum of 300 dpi. Click OK when done.
  6. To scan, click Scan, and then click the Save As option on toolbar.
  7. It will then prompt you as to where you would like to save the file. Click the Browse button and select a folder in which you would like to save this file. Make sure that you save the file as .jpg under the Save as Type Button.
  8. Click the Save button to finish scan.
  9. From Form 14 of Approaching Stanford, click on Browse, locate your photo, click on it, and then click Open. The Browse window will close, and you will be back on Form 14.
  10. Click on Save Form. You will see a message on the page indicating whether your form meets the technical requirements or not.

Back to Top

 

Reducing the file size (if your digital photo is larger than 1 MB)

There are several free online photo editors available. We do not endorse one over the other. A web search of “free online photo editor” will provide you with options. While the site we tested is Snipshot (http://www.snipshot.com), use the program that feels most comfortable to you. Below are the steps we used.

  1. Note the location of your digital photo on your computer.
  2. Go to http://www.snipshot.com on your web browser.
  3. Click on “Browse” under “Open from your computer.” Find your digital photo, click on that file, then click the “Open” button. Your photo will appear on the screen.
  4. Often just resaving the photo will work. Click on “Save” in the top right-hand corner. Make sure the hi-res option is UNchecked, then click on JPG to save it in the correct file format. Save the photo, then try again to upload it to Form 14 of Approaching Stanford.
  5. If your file is still too large, go back to your photo in Snipshot. Click on “Resize” at the top of the screen. You will see small squares at the corner of your photo. Drag one of the corner squares with the mouse to make the picture smaller. Don’t make it too small, though. If you do, you will receive an error when you upload your photo in Approaching Stanford that says your photo is less than 300 dpi. After resizing the photo and saving it, return to Form 14 and try uploading again. This may take a bit of trial-and-error to get it right.

Back to Top